Former Vice President and 2023 presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has accused the current administration of deliberately weaponising poverty to suppress the Nigerian population.
Speaking in Abuja on Saturday, May 31, at the 60th birthday lecture of former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, themed “Weaponising Poverty in Nigeria,” Atiku alleged that the federal government is using economic hardship as a political tool.
“I want to say that what we are experiencing currently in Nigeria is state weaponisation of poverty,” Atiku stated. He recounted his early years in Kano, once regarded as one of Nigeria’s most prosperous regions, and contrasted it with the present situation where people now sleep under bridges and in the streets due to rising poverty and insecurity.
He expressed dismay at reports that a state agency in Kano, tasked with rehabilitating the homeless and vulnerable, was ordered to stop its operations after trying to remove people from the streets. “They were called to a meeting and they were told to stop it,” Atiku said, calling the move indicative of a broader strategy to maintain control through deprivation.
Atiku further addressed his support for opposition coalitions, declaring, “You may call me a conspirator, you may call me anything, and that is why we are in this alliance, to make sure we don’t allow them to continue weaponising poverty.”
Also speaking at the event, Rotimi Amaechi linked the nation’s growing insecurity to deepening poverty, stressing that hunger and economic hardship transcend ethnic and religious boundaries.
“Hunger does not know tribe and religion, and the current government has made people more poorer which has increased the rate of insecurity and crime in the society,” Amaechi said.
He urged Nigerians to recognize their electoral power and use it to remove leaders who fail to deliver. “The power resides with the people, not the politicians,” he concluded.
The event served as a platform for renewed criticism of the government’s handling of economic challenges, with both speakers calling for accountability and systemic change.
